Cours



@einer dtlllira IMPEovED nEvIcE Fon COLLECTING IL. aoowLEY. or .SILVER CREEK, New YORK.

. Letters Patent No. 95,089, dated September 21, `1869.

PETROLEUM mot/:THE SURFACE or* WATER- CotrRsEs.

TheScheduIe eferred to in these .Letters lPatent and making part of the same, 4

To all @cham tt may concern:

Beit known. that I, L. GowLEY, of .Silver Creek, in the county' of Chautauqua, and State of i New Yorlcphave invented acertaiu new and improved Like letters refer to like parts m each of .the figures.

VThe object *of my improvement is` the collection of` petroleum .found on the `surfz'tce cti-creeks in thesop called oil-regions of lennsylvania, and other places --wherepetroleumfiszfonnd. l

lhe invention `consists of a'reservoir` sunk -below the bedof the creek, witha partition in it, extending across the stream, and above the surface of the water? and to near the bottom of the reservoir, space being "fleft beneath it for the free passage of the water, which, with the oil, is intercepted above by the dam formed by the partition, the reservoir being of such size and depth, compared' with the size of the stream, as will p 'permit the water kto' Aflow beneath the partition or dam without producing-such a draught or current as to` suck downward with the water the oil which collects and floats-on the surface ofthe water in the reservoir.` n i In the drawiugs i A is the reservoir, which may be constructed of rectangular form, as shoiwm the size and proportions `of whicb will vary with the width' and depth of the stream beneath which it is Tto be submerged.

B is the partition, dividing this reservoir into two .unequal compartments, .the larger, D, heilig on the side\up stream, into which the water first iows.

l., The reservoir is sunk in the bed of vthe stream, so that the upper edge of the `aide of the reservoir up stream will be level with the bed.

' The edge of the lower side should be made a trifle `lower than that of the opposite side, to' compensate for the lighter gravity ofl the oil in the upper compartment, and to facilitate the escape of the water.

'lhe reservoir should extend across the whole width of thestream, unless the latter is contracted, vso as to cause all `the water-t0 ow into the same.

To prevent the oil being carried down with the water in the reservoir D, and escaping `vbeneath the partition `at its bottom, the velocity of thedeseending column should -be retarded, and the -e'ects offthis downward movement 'counteracted fThisI effect by making the area vof the two compartments or divisions of the reservoir, (and especially the rst'orrupper one,) and the area of passage lbeneath the partition, so muchgreater than the crosssectional area of the stream, that the downward movement of the water in this enlarged compartment D will be comparatively slow.

I also'make the reservoir of considerable depth, which may be more or less, say from'six to twelve or 'fifteen feet, so that the velocity with ,which the Water eutersthe reservoir at its top may lje' overcome, and thewater diffused throughout the whole area of the compartment, before it escapes at the bottom into the opposite chamber D. p

The increased density ofthe water toward 4the bottcm of a reservoir of considerable depth, will also have the effect to` counteract any tendency which the descending column of water has to' draw down with it the oil, which `is of lighter specific gravity. The operation' of my improvement, therefore, becomes obvious. The partitiori B, eicteuding' above -the water, arrests and contines within the chamber D the oil, which gradually collectsv at the top, while the water flows from the bottom into-the compartment D', whence it rises and continues its lowdownv the' bed of the stream. As` the oil collects in sufficient quantities it maybe removed by pumps, '0r other suitable means.

If desired, the top of the compartment D may be covered, partially or entirely, by a grate, which will operate to break up the culrent and diffuse the water as it enters the reservoir, and also to intercept Ithe passage of sticks, and other debris, that might otherwise enter the reservoir, and tillv up the same.

What I claim as my invention, audvdesire to secure llhe sunken reservoir .D D', divided by partition, and dam B, and arranged in the bed of a creek, so as to operate substantially as set forth.

L. H.. cowLnY.

Witnesses:

ALrHEUs .BABCOCK, SIMEON Hawes. 

